Of Warriors, Rulers and Healers
by Kelandra Surisha
Summary: AE POA. When Harry's life takes a turn & two new people enter Harry Potter's life, Voldemort takes a chance to try and destroy the him once and for all. Now it is up to Hermoine and the Marauders II to save Harry before he loses the battle against himself
1. Prologue Of Runaways and Soft Goodbyes

Heya everyone! Welcome to my first Harry Potter fanfiction, huge fan, first time writer. ;)...crickets chirp, ya ya ya, not funny...:P. Yes this is only the prologue, expect the next one up tomorrow. Hoot hoot.

Anyways onto the disclaimer. I don't own Harry Potter...blah blah blah...JK Rowling does (she is a goddess...but...but...but...SIRIUS! WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sniffs I feel better now). Sorry JK, gotta change it a bit so Sirius is alive in my story, bows in forgiveness, I but luuuuuuuuuv Sirius too much.

Anyways onto the story...winks.

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**Of Warriors, Rulers, and Healers**  
By Kelandra Surisha 

**Prologue – Of Runaways and Soft Goodbyes**

When a life flies away, its worth it to take a moment and breath, knowing there is no finer way to spend your life than knowing those you love are in the arms of those who care. Anon.

An instant, that's all it took before her world shattered. But still…she knew Sirius Black…he needn't be involved in this.

"M'lady," came the softest voice that seemed to echo in the wide stone chamber, "m'lady 'tis time."

A woman in long black robes turned to face the soft voice, her velvety black hair fluttering for a moment over her deep emerald eyes. Her long black robes stretched out towards the floor, as if longing to feel the cold stone beneath the soft layers of silky fabric. Her long black sleeves seemed to dangle as did her robes, scraping the floor just as her robes did. From within her long black sleeves emerged two soft hands, as tanned as the rest of her body hinting towards a Mediterranean background, that clutched a small bundle wrapped in royal blue cotton blankets.

The woman slowly lowered her soft slightly pointed face towards the bundle. Lightly she pushed the blankets back revealing a small baby boy in her arms and she kissed the top of his raven black hair. The baby looked up at her with big beautiful eyes, a mixture of black brown and blue that sparkled as the woman rocked him slightly. He reached a small chubby arm up towards her and she kissed the fine tips of his fingers. "I promise you," she whispered lightly. "I promise I'll be back,"

"M'lady it is time!"

"I know,"

"I'm sorry m'lady, if there were any other way…"

The woman with emerald eyes raised her eyes and all the life within her eyes seemed to shatter. She brushed her fingertips over the baby's hands and handed him softly to the other woman with long flowing blonde hair and silvery blue eyes. She gasped in surprise and clutched the tiny bundle.

"I want you to contact Dumbledore," the emerald-eyed woman demanded, but her tone was as soft as she could make it, "tell him there's been a change of plans,"

"M'lady…" the other woman commented before being cut off by the other woman.

"Frieda," she whispered lightly, "you've been everything to me for so long."

"M'lady," the blonde woman, Frieda, whispered.

"And I want you to be everything for him," she commented turning her back on Amelia and turning towards the only thing in the chamber worth the time to focus on. The large window that seemed to call out towards the starlight to warm the dank castle they stood in.

"M'lady I don't understand…"

"Frieda its time to leave me," the woman responded, her eyes brimming with tears, "leave, fly far away, take my key and take my money, I wont be needing it anymore."

"But m'lady I can't leave you!"

The woman turned harshly towards her, her tears brushing away as she turned.

"You can and you must! You must take him, raise him, far away from all of this,"

"But Dumbledore has arranged for you two to…"

"Sirius Black must not be involved," the woman seemed to below, her voice echoing off the still walls flowing through the quiet corners of the room that seemed to magnify her voice in response.

Frieda nodded and clutched the tiny bundle.

"You can't stay with me, he can't stay with me," she responded, "a life on the run from _them_ is no life for a child or a friend," the woman turned again, pulling the hood of her robe over her face. She reached over towards her side, reaching for a long slender brown broom. Quietly she lifted it and mounted it.

Frieda clutched the bundle tightly in her arms as tears softly rolled down her cheeks. Frieda closed her eyes and for a single moment was lost in the reality of everything. That was when a final thought emerged from a stream of thoughts and found its way to her lips.

"His name?"

The other woman turned and the words seemed to slip her lips, so warm and loving.

"Donavan Shane Tahmores…" she paused.

"Black, m'lady?"

"Someday, yes," she whispered, "tell him his last name one day."

With that she disappeared over the edge of the parapet, flying into the night and away from sight, blending into the sky as the silk of her robes fluttered in the breeze.

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Clutching a small bundle in her arms, Frieda Aileen Escalina swiftly and silently moved through a dark passage at the bottom of a large skinny flight of black stairs. She seemed almost to flow, her dark black robes lightly brushing against the ground as she moved, creating a wake as she began to wade through a knee-deep trench of water that filled the last stretch of the corridor. She brushed one hand softly over her swollen womb as she reached the end of the corridor and held a hand to the wooden door with a small hole near the bottom allowing the water into the corridor unintentionally.

"_Emigo intaro_," she whispered as the door opened, allowing a fresh flow of water to wash over her, up to her waste. She waded into the water and away from the door before turning again. "_Flightonis intaro_," she whispered and the door shut and blended into its surroundings, becoming invisible to all but those who knew it was there.

Amelia turned and took one last glance back at the large castle at the top of the hill. Lanterns were lit, giving the castle an eerie look and she knew they had come. She just hoped that had not come for the reason she feared.

But it didn't matter now. Clutching a tiny key in her long slender hands, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "_Shingo transform_," she whispered as her long silvery blonde hair seemed to shrink into her hair and as the moonlight pooled over her head the blonde was enveloped by brown and when she blinked her silvery blue eyes had been replaced by dark black pools of ebony. Her pale skin darkened only in the slightest and softest signs of freckles appeared on her cheeks.

It didn't matter if they looked for her now, not even he could find her. Neither of them could.

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So there's the prologue. Hope you guys all enjoyed. ;) Yes, more will come soon, yes we will meet Sirius and Harry and all of them in Chapter One. :D

I hope you guys all enjoyed and please read and review.

Kelandra Surisha


	2. Chapter One – Of Refugees, Werewolves, S...

Of Warriors, Rulers, and Healers 

By Kelandra Surisha

Chapter One – Of Refugees, Werewolves, Stags and Friends _Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. Mark Twain_

Thirteen Years Later

It was over. All of it… over. How could it not be? This would be better. All of the pain he'd had, feeling alone amongst those who share his blood. He wouldn't have to feel that way anymore, not with Sirius, not now.

He would have a home with Sirius. True, it might not be much. How much could a convicted murdered now proved innocent afford?

But Harry didn't care, hell they could live in a shack barely big enough for both of them to stand side by side in and he wouldn't mind.

A godfather! Gods how he'd wished for this, someone to take him away from this pain. For as long as he could remember he had looked to the stars and prayed for a moment to come where a distant relative or friend took him away from the Dursleys, away from the loneliness.

A godfather! Even better than all else he could have imagined. This was the closest thing he could have to having a father again and he knew it.

Silently he turned his head up towards the sky and wordlessly whispered a prayed of thanks.

_Are you happy now?_ Harry turned his head up towards the sky. _Happy that I'm going to be happy? Dad, Mom, are you happy for me?_

Suddenly, as though ripped from a dream, he realized the quiet moment was changing. Professor Lupin in front of them had gone rigged, as the moon seemed to pool out from beneath the faint puffs of clouds covering the glittering stars. What was happening?

Sirius had flung an arm in front of Harry and Hermione who was at Harry's side. Harry gasped, as did Hermione. He heard Hermione rasp out something about Lupin being unsafe but the first truly distinguishable thing he heard was Sirius.

"Run. Run! Now!"

Hermione stepped back but Harry fixed his eyes passed Sirius towards Ron, Lupin and Pettigrew, all chained together to ensure that Pettigrew did not escape. He leapt for Ron, nothing could happen to Ron. He had to free Ron. If it weren't for Ron he wouldn't have any of this now. He owed Ron everything and that moment he realized it.

All Harry could think about was freeing Ron. But Sirius' harsh grasp on his arm brought him back to reality again. Sirius ripped at his arm and pushed him back, yelling something about leaving it to him.

It all happened so fast. Sirius transformed wordlessly into a great black dog, his ferocious fangs gleaming in the now free flowing moonlight. In a flash he was on Professor Lupin, now transformed into a werewolf as the full moon had finished pouring over his body.

Pettigrew beside Ron dove towards Lupin's now discarded wand dragging Ron slightly with him as they were still on the chain. Harry heard Hermione screamed and he realized that Pettigrew had the wand.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Harry yelled turning his intent vision from the battle between Lupin and Black towards Pettigrew. Harry's attack had done the trick; it had disarmed Pettigrew. "Stay where you are!"

But the moment was fleeting fast. Pettigrew smiled weekly and forced a transformation. He was a rat again.

No no no! This couldn't happen! No! His happiness! Sirius' freedom! No! Without Pettigrew they had no proof.

He could see the memories yet to be made drift away as though the sands of time had sifted through an hourglass away from him. His harsh future with the Dursleys washed over him as though it were a tidal wave. All the things he wanted to do, all the things we wanted to say washed away as the image of barred windows and Hedwig's padlocked cage came flashing over his vision.

It was hopeless now…unless…

"_Petrificus totalis!_" Harry clenched his eyes closed at the powerful spell emitted itself from his wand. Then there was nothing, it was as if his senses were suspended in time, frozen under sheets of ice and snow.

Finally after what seemed an eternity Harry could hear Hermione.

"It…he's…"

She seemed as bewildered as he did. Slowly he pealed open his eyes, allowing his vision to follow his wand to where it still pointed.

There in the grass by his feet was a very rigged, disgusting looking rat that seemed to be covered with ice for a moment before losing all colour and falling still, legs stuck at his sides and eyes wide. He had done it, Peter Pettigrew; the disgusting wizard animagi was in a full body bind.

As if on cue however, Harry found himself thrown against the ground as a large, ferocious, grey wolf streaked by him, fangs bared as he seeped blood from an open wound on his shoulder. Shortly there after came another big creature, pure black with glowing golden eyes. His fangs bared and the slightest tinge of blood poured over his canines. He streaked after the wolf, following the trail of blood as he went.

Was it…over…?

No, Harry knew it; Sirius had said that he and his father had been big enough to keep Lupin in check as a werewolf, but Sirius alone?

Then came the strangest sound. It seemed almost a whimper than a frightened howl, unlike any sound he had ever heard. The howl seemed a mix, emitting itself from the same source, halfway between the odd scream of a man and a mad howl of a dog.

It only took an instant for Harry to know what had happened.

Quickly he shot a glance at Hermione. "Take care of _him_," he yelled defiantly as Hermione gasped and shot towards the tiny rat. She pointed her wand towards him and grasped him tightly in her hands.

Before she could say anything, however, Harry was off, lost from site and sound of the others. He had darted across the cool grass, away from the whomping willow that now roamed freely, moving its branches wildly as if knowing something was amiss and waiting to take out its revenge for its paralysis.

But nothing mattered, not with _them_ on the loose.

Harry soon caught up, about fifty feet away from the edge of the forbidden forest lay Sirius Black, he seemed barely conscious, and his smirk had faded into a look of pure…emptiness.

There was nothing and Harry gasped. Sirius was grasped tightly around the collar by a dementor, his face emotionless, not a sound coming from his frozen lips.

The dementor's hood was still up but Harry feared the worst, the unthinkable.

_The kiss_.

Had they done it? Had they finally destroyed everything that Sirius Black had ever been, captured the spirit they had wanted so much to kill? Taken the innocent soul of a man whose only crime was loving his friends?

This couldn't be happening. Everything, he thought he had. He had beaten Pettigrew; Sirius' name would be cleared now. He couldn't lose him now. Not now, not after everything that had happened that night.

Sirius had spared Pettigrew's life even though only upon Harry's request. But still, Sirius Black had swallowed his pride and spared his life.

Pettigrew had taken his final life, and for a moment, Harry felt hopeless. Clinging onto the thoughts of what could have been. The emptiness he suddenly felt deep inside seemed to mirror the emptiness he knew was inside of Sirius. There was nothing, no thoughts; no life; just…emptiness. All the hope that had been inside of him had been ripped away, just as everything else in his life had.

Harry fell to his knees as he felt a dementor turn to look at him, swooping past the dementor holding Sirius, seeming to float upon the air as his dwindled hand reached out for him.

But all he saw was the other twisted dementor grasp at his own hood to pull it back.

Then everything made sense, he looked past Sirius' empty smile and pale lips, past his cool skin and unmoving hands, and he stared at his eyes.

And his eyes burned with defiance and revenge.

Harry reached forwards into his wide pocket, grasping out his wand. He could hear loud screams fill his ears as the other dementor approached him, his mother's painful screams as she grasped onto him tightly. He could feel her arms around him, tightening her grip on him as she screamed. He could hear his father yell to her to get away, go after him and the deathly laughter, always the laughter, the laughter that never faded from his mind, the laughter that had become the background noise of his life.

His laughter.

Voldermort's laughter.

He could feel the softest tear burn down his cheek but still he stared into those big grey eyes that held so much life. No dementor staring down Sirius Black could take that away from him.

Harry stared at Sirius' defiant smile and felt the corners of his mouth tighten into the most genuine, although small, smirk.

"_Expecto patronum_!" everything around him faded, even the laughter that had burnt its way into his skull seemed to shatter. All that he knew was the he could hear the sound of hooves, hooves that pounded dangerously on the ground.

As Harry opened his eyes he could see Sirius, his crumpled body lying discarded on the ground. Around him he could see the dementors flea, their long black cloaks flowing as the tried desperately to flee from the white angel that seemed to capture Harry's very vision.

No, that wasn't right, it was not an angel it was a stag.

Harry's voice lodged in his throat. He had done it; he had brought to life a patronus.

The patronus stood there for a moment, the dementors having fled from site. The patronus then turned and glanced at Sirius before turning back to Harry. He stepped forwards, his bright silver and gold fir shinning brightly as he raised his head proudly before lightly nudging Harry.

Harry could feel the touch, like liquid energy flow over him. He felt warm and, he couldn't describe it as anything else, loved. He was loved, and he recognized the feeling as the same feeling he felt when he knew what his mother had done for him, when Professor Dumbledore sat at his bedside at the end of first year and told him his mother had sacrificed herself because she loved him.

And Harry knew not what to say. He didn't have to know because his instincts did it for him.

"Prongs…"

The stag looked up for a moment, shifting its chin upwards before looking down for a moment and disappearing.

Harry half expected the feeling to disappear, the sudden rush of love that had come over him to disappear and the fear and the cold to nip at the back of his neck again.

But it didn't, it remained there, a piece of him that couldn't be destroyed. Even if the mighty dementors returned they couldn't capture his feelings.

He _was_ loved.

In a flash his moment was startled as a big black dog suddenly appeared at his feet, his large yellowed canines still dripping the slightest bit of blood. His big grey eyes sparkled, the same life that Harry had seen just a moment earlier. He looked deeply into Harry's eyes for a moment before turning and dashing into the forest, following a slim trail of rapidly drying blood as Harry leaned back into the grass and closed his eyes.

He had been dreaming. It wasn't a confusing dream as he usually dreamt or a nightmare which came almost every other night. It had been different from his usual nightmares of green flashes of light and horrendous, thunderous laughter this dream had been pleasant. He had dreamt that someone held him in their arms, but he didn't see whom. He could hear the softest chuckles break into deep pleasant laughter. Three men were laughing as he was passed from one of them to the other then to another. He could feel a sense of security he couldn't imagine. The men were adding in the odd words every few moments, things about giving him the map, teaching him to 'tools of the trade', and readying Harry for 'ole Snivelus'. It hadn't really made much sense but what he knew was that they were talking about him. He had finally managed to open his eyes and he knew what was happening. He looked up at a young man, looked to be in his mid to late twenties with bright blue eyes and wild black hair and black glasses that clung helplessly to the end of his nose as he laughed, shaking them as he did. It had been his father – Prongs. He had seen the others as he had been passed around. Another had sandy blondish brown hair with a smile that didn't cease and slightly point ears and glowing eyes. The eyes reminded him of Professor Lupin…was it…it must have been Lupin. He did say he had his father's friend for years, didn't he? The final man had dark brown hair that looked black until the light his it just right revealing the slightest tinge of the darkest chestnut. His eyes were lively and grey and he had a smile that Harry couldn't imagine ended before his ears. That had to be Sirius Black.

It was such a wonderful dream; he had felt so safe and comfortable. It had been a warm sensation Harry knew was love and friendship, something he had never known as a child. Was this a memory, a memory of babyhood? It had to have been.

But as bright white light brushed over his eyelids he had been torn from his thoughts of the wonderful dream to reality.

Harry blinked fruitlessly, rubbing at his eyes as the early morning sunlight bore into his eyes. He groaned lightly, fisting the sheets he lay under and pulling them up in a fruitless attempt to protect him from the early rays of morning light.

Wait…how did he get into a bed?

Harry fought with his eyes again and opened them slowly, looking around him in a barren sort of way. Quizzically he raised his head, propping himself up on his right elbow as he gazed absently around him.

It was the hospital wing of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a place he knew oh so well. He chuckled lightly to himself, remembering all the nights and days he had spent in that damned wing of the school since he had entered. He swore that only Neville had been there more than he. It had become almost a second home with all the quidditch injuries and run-ins with Voldemort.

This time it was for different reasons Harry knew. He lay back in anguish as the night's events came back playing in his mind.

He could remember being in the shrieking shack with Hermoine and Ron. Professor Lupin had been there and Sirius Black, accompanied later by the Head of Slytherin House, Professor Severus Snape. He could remember Peter Pettigrew and Lupin as a werewolf.

Pettigrew…what had happened to Pettigrew? He vaguely remembered holding out his wand and finding a very stiff Wormtail at his feet in a full body bind and commanding Hermoine to take care of him.

The events seemed to slowly pool forth across his eyes and he fought them closed, remembering the horrible screams that had pooled through his ears as the dementors had approached.

Prongs…Prongs had saved him. True, he had produced Prongs but he had been there, the love that had flowed through him had been real. Prongs was his guardian angel, his patronus, his father.

And Sirius…what had happened to Sirius? One moment he had been standing intently, as a dog, at Harry's feet, a playful yet determined look pooling through his big grey eyes before he had turned and run away, following the drying trail of blood that had emitted itself from Lupin's injured shoulder.

Sirius had run after Lupin, but was he okay? Sirius was a fearsome werewolf, one of the greatest people Harry had ever known, but a bloody dangerous foe when his instincts were not under control. Sirius had gone after him to fight him, keep him at bay until sunrise.

And what if the dementors had caught them first? Harry had managed to turn them on their heels once but would Sirius have the strength to do it as he had?

Had he succeeded to survive? What had happened to them?

Harry raised his head up again and despite the aching muscles throughout his body and the drum that seemed to be going off in his head he swung his legs over the edge of his bed and pushed himself up onto his tired feet. He stalked slowly over towards the window, looking out of it towards the beautiful sunrise as he pushed open the window and propped his head out of it, turning his head to face east and watch as the early morning sun danced lusciously over the green treetops, hitting them just right and releasing almost a golden reflection off of the dew that hung lazily onto the treetops and the grass.

The scent of luscious pines swept over Harry as a cool early morning breeze caught his mess of black hair in a tiny whirlwind of black tangles passing lazily across his gaze. He allowed himself to smile slightly, even though the impending return of Sirius was a worrisome event.

The only thing that tore his gaze away from the early morning light had been the softest moan from the other end of the room. He brought his head back inside and turned it slightly looking intently at where the moan had come from. There in a bed at the left side of the room was Hermoine Granger. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes as if brushing the last traces of sleep from her body. She picked herself up, sitting up right, and smiled warmly at Harry who still stood facing the window but with his head tilted towards her.

"Your alive!" she rasped out. "I had been so afraid…"

Harry smiled. "Why?"

"Just…When I found you I thought you weren't breathing. You lay there so softly, your breathing so low, I thought the dementors had, well you know…"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"_Kissed you_," she responded, her voice lowering to just above a fearful whisper, as though the thought still pressed freshly in her mind. She shook her head slowly then propped her feet over the side of the bed, her nightdress swinging slightly as she walked over towards the window. "At any rate," she said, her voice turning from that of fear and worry to that of seriousness, "I knew you hadn't been because you had the most peculiar look on your face. You were unconscious clearly but you had the strangest smile on your face, I can't quite put my finger on it, you seemed to be dreaming something very pleasant which seemed very odd considering what we'd just been through,"

"I was," Harry smiled, turning back out the window.

Hermoine propped her elbows onto the windowsill and pushed her head out the window. Harry now had his hands on the stone windowsill and propped himself out the open window as far as he could. Hermoine merely rolled her eyes.

"What about?"

Harry shrugged. "Sirius, Professor Lupin and Dad,"

Hermoine propped up and eyebrow. "Really?"

"Ya," Harry chuckled lightly. "They had been passing me around between them talking about 'ole Snivelus'."

"Snivelus?" Hermoine giggled slightly. "I once heard Peeves call Snape that. Snape went cherry red around the ears and stomped off, I can imagine to go tell the Bloody Baron."

Harry laughed openly. "Must've been a term of endearment for Snape, no wonder he hates Sirius!"

Hermoine, for the first time since before all of this began, laughed gaily. Harry turned towards Hermoine for a moment, looking down into her lively brown eyes for a moment and swept his arm around her shoulders, bringing her towards him into a tight embrace between friends.

"Would you two keep it down?" came a grumbling voice from the far end of the room. "I'm tired!"

"Ron!" Harry rasped out, not realizing he was there. Ron had propped himself up on his pillows for a moment, glaring daggers at his two best friends before falling back onto the pillows, closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked towards Hermoine whose eyes went wide. "No…" she whispered fruitlessly.

Too late. Harry bounded away from her towards Ron's bed as though walking on air and jumped onto the end of Ron's bed, tickling him mercilessly.

"Harry!" He gasped out in anguish. "Ge' off!"

Harry laughed as Ron wrestled with him, the two of them falling helplessly off the edge of the bed, rolling around in a mess of tangled sheets and pillows, wrestling playfully for domination.

Hermoine just rolled her eyes and turned back to looking out the window.

"Boys," she grumbled loosely cast a minor shield charm around the bedside table and glass vase that sat on it as the two boys rolled dangerously close to it.

"Guys!" Hermoine suddenly cried out. "Look!"

The two boys wrestled to get to their feet, pulling at the mass of each other's limbs and the tangled sheets and uncoordinatedly pushed themselves to their feet, pushing and pulling at each other to make sure they could see.

Harry got to the window first, propped himself up on his hands, leaning out of the window. Ron grumbled for a moment then put a hand on Harry and Hermoine's shoulders and propped himself up over both of them, pushing them forwards slightly as he gazed out the window.

Coming across the grass in a rather hapless manner were two full-grown men come stumbling across the grass towards Hogwarts. One of them, with long shaggy black hair and tattered rags was supporting the other who had dirty blondish brown hair, torn wizard's robes and a look of utter exhaustion on his feet as he dragged his feet in a rather uncoordinated walk.

"Sirius! Professor Lupin!" Harry cried, pushing Ron back and darting from the infirmary, dashing past a rather flustered and angry Madam Pomfrey. "Get back here!" she called after Harry who pushed his way through the doors of the hospital wing and darted down the hall towards the main hall followed closely by Hermoine and Ron.

As the two rather exhausted men came trudging into the main hall of the castle Harry came bounding up towards them. Both men had a slight smile on their faces and they seemed, although exhausted, utterly happy. As Harry approached them their smiles brightened and Professor Lupin broke away from Sirius's grasp supporting him and leaned against a wall as Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder, pulling him into an awkward sideways embrace.

"I was worried you'd killed each other," Harry gasped out.

Sirius and Lupin looked at each other then laughed.

"Harry," Sirius commented casually as though nothing big had just happened, "you have no idea how many times that happened to us."

Harry raised an eyebrow then shrugged, his face mirroring the happiness displayed on Sirius' face before becoming sombre as Lupin lowered his gaze to Harry seriously.

"And Wormtail?" he questioned.

"With Professor Dumbledore for questioning," Hermoine rasped out as she reached them with a still slightly limping Ron. "When Harry ran off when he heard Sirius yell I took him up to the dorm and threw him in his cage and brought him to Dumbledore. He should be out of the full body bind by now and trying to find a way out of his cage."

Harry's face warmed. "Professor Dumbledore will know what to do with him,"

Sirius just laughed, a genuine laugh. "By the way, nice work with the body bind there Harry," he said beaming with pride, "and I see your friend here got his leg fixed."

Ron nodded sheepishly.

"Sorry 'bout that chap, had to get at Wormtail and you wouldn't let him go,"

Ron nodded dumbly.

"And it's a good thing you did," came the aged but slightly joyful voice of Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts as he approached the group and startled Ron as he placed a hand on his shoulder, "its quite a relief to know that I do not have to hand you over to the dementors."

Sirius raised his eyebrow. "No going back to Azkaban?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Cornelius Fudge arrived very late last night when I sent for him, and Miss Granger here explained what happened quite forcefully when she shoved a caged rat into my arms."

Hermoine blushed slightly as Ron and Harry stared fixatedly at her. Hermoine, forceful with Dumbledore?

"When Madam Pomfrey took you two up to the hospital wing I went and talked to Mr. Fudge and Dumbledore and explained everything," she responded, "I told them about how Sirius had been innocent and it had really be Pettigrew who had been the Potter's secret keepers."

"To justify the story Fudge and I interrogated Mr. Pettigrew this morning, he has since returned to his cage and, between you and me, is sulking quite endlessly, makes me almost feel sorry for him."

Dumbledore nodded and wordlessly extended his hand to Sirius.

"I owe you an apology," he stated calmly, showing no outward signs of fear or being apprehensive around Sirius as most would have in the same situation. "I shouldn't have doubted your loyalty to James and Lily, I shouldn't have believed you killed them,"

Sirius shook his hand soundlessly then stepped back.

"That's where you wrong, Professor, I did," Sirius put his arm around Harry's shoulders again in a fatherly embrace, "but I'm going to try and make it up to them now,"

Dumbledore merely nodded his approval and Harry smiled.

And so ended the homelessness of Harry Potter.

The hours went painfully on as Harry, Hermoine, Ron and Professor Lupin and sat patiently in Dumbledore's office. Fawkes the phoenix fluttered around the room occasionally, impatiently waiting for the return of Dumbledore from speaking to Wormtail and Sirius.

Cornelius Fudge (the Minister of Magic), and Professor Dumbledore were in another room nearby with Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black, speaking to both and as the other suspected, interrogating them in attempts to ensure they knew the full story of what had happened.

Harry impatiently stroked Fawkes who had come and landed on Harry's shoulder, nipping at him lightly as if to draw his attention away from the seriousness of the situation at hand. Hermoine sat beside him, he nose pressed into a book, attempting to drown herself in her studies but failing miserably. Ron was merely twirling his wand, picking it up every few moments as he clumsily dropped it. Lupin on the other hand seemed to be the only one of them truly relaxed and patiently waiting, his eyes closed, leaning against one of the shelves of books. He opened his eyes every few moments, gazing intently at the three friends.

That is until another man with long black hair and stiflingly neat black robes came bounding into the room, his dark eyes staring accusingly at Lupin.

"Where are they?" he screamed.

Lupin smiled lightly.

"Good to see your doing alright this morning, Severus,"

"You!" Severus Snape, the potions master yelled. "How dare you be in here, you…you…you traitor!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation Harry couldn't help but laugh. Professor Snape, clearly unaware of his predicament or he would've done something about it, still wore his slightly torn robes and his forehead was still red, bruised and scratched from when Sirius had let his unconscious body hit the roof.

"Clearly Severus, you were not awake to learn the truth," Lupin responded calmly, closing his eyes again, "not everything is as it seems."

"That doesn't matter, you and Black are in leagues again! Black is a monster! He always was."

"He was childish when we were kids, Severus, as we all were. I seem to remember you returning his, 'affection',"

Snape glared daggers as Lupin and reached for his wand dangerously.

"I wouldn't suggest is Severus." Came Dumbledore's voice as he finally came into the room leading two other men. Behind him came a more than content Sirius, bounding into the room followed by slightly bemused Cornelius Fudge clutching a small cage in his hands.

Fawkes nipped at Harry's ear playfully again and then pushed away, gliding over to perch on his perch as Dumbledore came across the room and took his seat at his large oak desk. He waved his hand slightly and chairs appeared around the room for everyone, close to his desk so they could all hear what he was going to say. Cornelius Fudge took a seat beside Dumbledore as he placed the cage down on the desk.

"Take a seat, all of you," Dumbledore commented.

When they had all taken their seats, Snape glaring daggers at Sirius who merely smiled his boyish smile and stuck out his tongue quickly in Snape's direction, Fudge spoke, his voice as muddled as he looked.

"After, careful consideration," he began, choosing his words carefully as he had always done, "and hours of interrogation of different parties in this case, I, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, hereby pardon Sirius Matthew Black of al crimes committed surrounding the day of November 1st, 1980, resulting there from." He took a deep breath, "and hereby charge Peter Pettigrew of those crimes committed on November 1st, 1980."

Professor Severus Snape clutched his wand painfully until his knuckles went white. His eyes were shut tightly and his lips were pulled into a tight grimace.

"But Albus…" Snape started and Dumbledore raised his hand to silence him.

"I do not have a say in this decision Severus, and if I did I would have made the same decision. Peter Pettigrew was to blame for the crimes,"

Snape glared daggers across the room at Sirius who laughed gaily, he was free and there was nothing anyone could say about it.


End file.
